NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Vehicle Recorders Division Washington, D.C. 20594 December 21, 2001 Air Traffic Control Recording Specialist’s Report by Joseph A. Gregor A. ACCIDENT Location: The Pentagon, Arlington, VA Date: September 1 1 , 2001 Time: 1 Aircraft: Boeing 757-200 NTSB Number: DCA01 SA064 B. GROUP N/A C. SUMMARY On September 11, 2001 American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. A certified analog copy of air traffic control (ATC) transmissions recorded on September 1 1 , 2001 at various tower, departure, and Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) positions along the route of flight was sent to the audio laboratory of the National Transportation Safety Board. These recordings were used to create an audio track and text transcript of the aircraft-ground communications from takeoff to accident time. - II - D. DETAILS OF INVESTIGATION Transmissions between the accident aircraft and ATC were recorded and an analog copy was sent to the Safety Board’s audio laboratory. The tapes cover the following ATC positions and time periods: Facility Time Period 1 (UTC) Position IAD 1211 - 1226 LCW 1215-1230 ND 1218-1231 NH ZDC 1220-1236 Sector 05R ZDC 1226-1246 Sector 03R ZID 1234-1309 HNN-R 1249-1313 DAC-RA 1249-1313 DAC-R Sections of the tape recordings containing air-ground transmissions to and from the incident aircraft were digitized at a 22,050 Samples/second data rate and saved as standard Microsoft .wav files. Individual .wav files were combined into a single 43 minute 59 second long .wav file containing all transmissions to and from the incident aircraft from 1219:20 UTC (aircraft cleared for takeoff) to 1303:19 UTC. A transcript was obtained from the final composite recording. Times are approximate due to limitations inherent in the data obtained from the FAA. Joseph A. Gregor Electrical Engineer - Ill - Transcript of ATC communications with a Boeing B-757-200 (American Airlines fliaht 77 ) which crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA on September 11, 2001. LEGEND AAL-77 Radio transmission from LCW Radio transmission from ND Radio transmission from NH Radio transmission from 05R Radio transmission from 03R Radio transmission from HNN-R Radio transmission from DAC-RA Radio transmission from DAC-R Radio transmission from * Unintelligible word # Expletive ( ) Questionable insertion [ 1 Editorial insertion • • • Pause Interruption American B-767-200, flight 77 Local Control West North Departure North High Sector 05 Radar position Sector 03 Radar position Henderson Radar position DAC Radar Associate position DAC Radar position Note 1: Times are expressed in universal coordinated time (UTC). Note 2: Only radio transmissions to and from the accident aircraft were transcribed. Note 3: Words shown with excess vowels, letters, or drawn out syllables are a phonetic representation of the words as spoken. 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